


Obscurus

by mooglecharm (morphaileffect)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Blind Ignis Scientia, But I certainly didn't, Could be platonic if you squint, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Ignis Scientia/Original Male Character, M/M, Mentioned Noctis Lucis Caelum, Mentioned Prompto Argentum, Mentioned Regis Lucis Caelum, Minor Original Character(s), Not very Noctis-friendly, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25876141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphaileffect/pseuds/mooglecharm
Summary: Ignis gets an unexpected call on his mobile. He tells Gladio to reject it for him. Gladio manages to learn many things about this caller, all without knowing his name.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	Obscurus

**Author's Note:**

> Set in Tenebrae, chapter 10.
> 
> Gladio's POV, so may not be very Noctis-friendly. Be warned.

It stood to reason that Ignis asked for help to unlock his mobile phone, and to keep it unlocked, so that others could operate it on his behalf.

And it stood to reason that Ignis would start to use it less and less.

His phone, formerly a vital part of his daily life as adviser to the Crown Prince (now King) of Lucis, was just another tool to him now. And not one that he had to figure out how to reintroduce into his life in a hurry.

Receiving calls was the only thing he used it for. He was still practicing making them, and making voice commands do his bidding. He once light-heartedly threatened his smartphone that he was going to replace it with an old analog phone, just so he could feel the buttons.

It wasn’t as if Ignis had been receiving a lot of calls, since they left Altissia. They were on the run. It was a private line that only a few people knew about, and those people already knew better than to call.

Yet there was a call.

Ignis heard it ringing, of course. But he looked puzzled.

“Who is it?” he asked the person nearest the phone. Who happened to be Gladio.

Gladio picked up the mobile, stared at the name.

“ ‘Obscurus,’ ” he read aloud. Then wondered aloud, “Is this a name?”

“Refuse the call,” Ignis instructed.

The chill in his voice was unmistakable. Gladio had to ask, “Why? It could be important.”

“Just,” Ignis began. But caught himself. “Please.” His gloved hand tightened around the head of his cane.

Gladio hit the red button and silenced the phone’s ringing. “Obscurus” didn’t try to call a second time.

He waited for Ignis to explain.

But Ignis didn’t even bother to take the phone from him.

He simply walked away.

.

.

It was never a good sign when Ignis was upset about something. And Gladio could always tell when Ignis was upset.

Especially now. Almost everything frustrated him. The whole goddamn situation must have been a nightmare - more for him, than for anyone else.

Yet Ignis bore up well. What happened to his vision was, to him, a mere setback. Gladio feared that he had not yet fully come to terms with it. _No one_ could have gone through what Ignis had gone through, and still keep his outward composure.

But then...this was Ignis. Since they were children, he had not allowed himself to lose composure. Ever.

Gladio felt that Ignis needed to talk. Noctis needed to talk, too, but he was letting Prompto deal with that. He trusted Prompto to say the things he couldn’t right now, while Ignis’ predicament took precedence over everything else in his head.

He just didn’t know the best way to start. With Ignis, one sometimes needed to be subtle, patient. His childhood friend had layers upon layers of emotional defenses. Getting him to be honest and open about his feelings was always a challenge.

But being patient and/or subtle wasn’t Gladio’s specialty. More often than not, he found that powering through a challenge was the most effective approach.

“Is it him?” he asked, when he was sure no one else was around who could overhear.

“Who?” Ignis nonchalantly asked back.

“The guy I saw you kissing the day before we left Insomnia.”

Ignis tensed.

Gladio hated that. Hated that he _caused_ that. But it needed to be said.

.

.

“...Are you joking?” Ignis chuckled. “What guy?”

“The guy who was the reason you got that spring in your step a couple years back. The reason you changed your hair. The reason you suddenly started dressing all trendy.” Gladio grunted. “Yeah. Everyone noticed.”

There was another pause, as Ignis parsed how to treat the situation.

“It was obvious, I suppose,” Ignis easily admitted. “Even his Highness was teasing me about it. ‘Who’s the lucky gal? Or guy?’ he kept asking.” He leaned back into his chair and sighed, both hands still on the head of the cane planted on the ground between his feet. “Of course, I never told him. Or anyone.”

“And you’re not telling me either, right?”

“You know me too well.”

Keeping secrets was Ignis’ specialty. He never allowed himself to be inebriated or emotionally unbalanced, lest any of the things he was keeping in slip out.

(Gladio suspected the man even _slept_ with his guard up. Even after resting in close quarters with him for months, he had _not once_ heard Ignis talk in his sleep.)

He and Gladio were total opposites that way. And even if it frustrated him sometimes, Gladio could only respect how strongly his friend stuck to his convictions.

There was a long pause. Ignis had not relaxed or tensed up any further. Since Ignis wasn’t attempting to change the subject, as he usually would, Gladio took his cue to pursue it.

“I’ve heard you making brief calls,” he thoughtfully began. “Your voice dropped down to a whisper and I couldn’t make out what you were saying. But you always looked a bit weird, right after.”

“Weird?” Ignis amiably asked.

“I dunno how to say it. ...Blank. I guess.”

“Blank,” Ignis emptily echoed. “Ah.” And there the expression was again. His whole face falling into a restive state, as if his now-sightless eyes were looking inward - or at something far away.

Gladio continued, “When Insomnia fell, you went off by yourself. When I asked where you went, you gave some bullshit answer like, you went out to gather intel, or something. But your eyes were red and your voice was hoarse. I knew you lost someone - you just couldn’t say who.”

He had been wanting to bring it up. He just hadn’t had the chance. It was rare he got Ignis to himself like this, to talk about personal things.

Mm. Noctis’ infamous sulkfests were finally good for something.

Ignis tilted his head down in a slight nod. Not one of acknowledgment, or any sort of response - merely a signal for Gladio to keep speaking.

“I thought it was him,” Gladio disclosed. “But the one who called just now...that’s him, isn’t it? He didn’t die in Insomnia.”

“No,” Ignis softly admitted. “He did not.” He leaned forward, rested his forehead on the backs of his hands, still on the cane.

Beside him, Gladio leaned forward as well, alarmed at the gesture. “Do you need to rest?” He was already reaching out, prepared to lead Ignis into the tent he had just finished pitching.

“No,” was the decisive answer. “Not right now. Let’s talk. We don’t get a lot of chances like this.”

Gladio smiled sadly.

Ignis might have been wanting to talk about this matter for some time. The opportunity had just never presented itself.

It was finally here.

“This guy...I’ve seen him hanging around you sometimes. But I never got a good look at his face.”

“He’s good at that,” Ignis admitted, “at being discreet. He was being considered for clandestine operations to Niflheim. If Insomnia hadn’t fallen, I have no doubt he would have been sent away.”

Ignis was never going to reveal the man’s real name. But he was giving away some pretty revealing details, which Gladio was determined to commit to memory.

All he really knew of the slippery “Obscurus” was that during some of the times Gladio caught him, he wore a Crownsguard cadet uniform.

“Couldn’t have been that good,” Gladio huffed, “if I saw him a lot.”

“If you did, it was because he wanted to be seen.” Ignis patiently explained. “He didn’t want us to stay secret. All requests for discretion were mine. I think he meant for you to see us on purpose.”

Gladio blinked. “Me? Why me?”

“He was always jealous of you.”

This took Gladio completely by surprise.

He didn’t know if he had to laugh or express shock.

“And if you’d answered that call, he might have thrown the phone at a wall just to stop hearing your voice,” Ignis casually continued. “You and he have _some_ things in common.”

Gladio realized he had completely failed to react. So he let the moment pass, then cleared his throat and asked, “Why...would he be jealous of me?”

To Ignis, the answer was clear and easily expressed:

“Our work. We both had exclusive assignments to tutor Noct. We crossed each other’s paths often. We...saw each other more than he and I did.”

“Can’t just be that - ”

“Also, I might have talked about you just a bit more than I should.”

Gladio spoke to Ignis sometimes about the girls he dated. He never thought much of it.

Ignis was his exact opposite. He wouldn’t speak to Gladio about his private affairs, especially if they weren’t serious.

This seemed damn serious.

“He wanted me to move in with him after he returned from assignment in Niflheim,” Ignis confirmed, as if reading Gladio’s thoughts. “I never gave him a definite answer. In fact, I haven’t spoken to him since we left Cape Caem.”

“Cape Caem?” Gladio asked, though the answer dawned on him almost immediately after. “Oh...the signal range.”

“Precisely,” Ignis remarked. “We could no longer communicate once we got on the boat. I told him I was going to call him as soon as soon as I was back in Lucis and things had calmed down. And...neither of those things really happened, did it?”

It did not. The “calming down” part, especially. If Gladio were asked, he would say that things had in fact gone straight to hell in a handbasket.

Especially for Ignis. Who seemed determined to keep his back straight and his head held high for the entire gruesome ride.

“Do you _want_ to move in with him?” Gladio ventured.

At first it seemed like Ignis had an easy answer. “I -”

But the answer fled his lips as quickly as it touched them.

Ignis let out his breath in a sigh. Gladio waited. Presently, he found the right words:

“It wouldn’t be practical.”

 _Practical_. A very Ignis word. The word struck Gladio as funny, under the circumstances.

“Maybe not before. But it is now,” he pointed out. “He can take care of you. Help you with stuff.”

Saying it weighed heavily on Gladio for some reason.

The very thought of someone else caring for Ignis...seemed wrong.

Not evil, or malicious. Just...unsettling.

He felt like he would be entrusting Ignis’ safety to a man whom he had never met, who allowed Gladio only the _barest glimpse_ of his person, before sliding out of sight. Like some shady thief.

And Ignis...was precious to him. Thieves were most definitely not welcome.

“Gladio,” Ignis said, in a tone that was lowered to the one he used with Noctis, when speaking of royal duties he could not refuse, “you were always the most grounded and realistic of us. Tell me. Would anyone still want to stay with me if they knew I was...like this?”

_Like this._

He couldn’t even say it yet.

“Why not?” Gladio readily replied. “I would.”

Then it was Ignis’ turn to be taken aback.

His expression, after the initial surprise, turned to incredulity. Gladio didn’t know what he was talking about. That much was obvious to him.

So it was up to Gladio to explain.

“I know you’re stubborn and won’t accept help,” Gladio continued. “You never accepted help, even as a stuck-up brat in the Crownsguard.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Look. I dunno who this guy is, but if he knows you well enough - at least as well as I do, anyway - he’ll know about that stubborn streak. And back off when necessary.”

It wasn’t enough. Maybe calling Ignis’ stubbornness to his attention wasn’t the best way to get him to loosen up.

So Gladio continued:

“Iggy, you always take care of other people. You deserve a little of that back. If someone’s offering you that, I dunno.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. “I think you should take it. World won’t end if you do.”

For what it was worth...

Ignis seemed grateful to hear that.

His expression softened, just a bit.

And turned into something that almost seemed...sad.

“Things change,” Ignis quietly argued. “People change.”

“So he’ll change, too, is that what you’re afraid of?” Gladio placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Look at it this way...he somehow found a way to track you down. He deserves an answer. You have to tell him what’s up. That’s the only way you’ll know if things have changed between you. And if he wants to move on, you let him.”

Ignis slouched under his touch. Seemed to shrink.

Gladio was about to pull away, but he reached up and kept the large, rough hand on his shoulder for just a few seconds longer.

“Maybe,” Ignis muttered, as if to himself, “I’m the one who wants to move on.”

So.

Things were more complicated than Gladio first thought.

Of course they were.

This was Ignis.

And layers upon layers.

Gladio didn’t understand. He didn’t have to.

He only let go of Ignis’ shoulder when Ignis let go of his hand.

“Whatever you decide,” he quietly assured Ignis, “I just want you to know, we’re here for you. _I’m_ here.”

.

.

Ignis kept his face turned toward Gladio, even if he couldn’t really see him.

Gladio remembered the many times he did that, in the past. Words weren’t always necessary between them. They used to exchange glances and read each other’s signals so easily.

It was going to be a little more difficult now.

But he was ready. That was all Gladio really wanted to tell Ignis: he was ready.

And there was another thing...

Ignis stood. Gladio called after him, “Iggy?”

Ignis stopped walking, but did not turn.

“The one you lost in Insomnia...who was it?”

There was a long silence.

Then Ignis’ free hand reached out, held on to the first thing that hand encountered: one of the tent’s ropes. His hold slowly turned into a grip.

“Don’t tell Noct,” was the near-whisper. “But he was...like a father to me, too.”

The King.

If Gladio had known, he would have spared some sympathy for Ignis, too. And not poured all of it out on the King’s biological son.

It was a little infuriating to learn that Ignis still thought of Noctis, even through his grief. Was set on not letting his own sorrow overshadow his friend’s.

_Don’t tell Noct._

Gladio wouldn’t, because Ignis had asked.

But he was damned if he wasn’t going to make up for not knowing earlier.

He rose from his seat, made his way to Ignis in a few short strides.

And engulfed him in a tight hug.

At first Ignis’ whole body stiffened. Was it really the first time Gladio had done it? Did it really feel so awkward?

To Gladio, it didn’t feel awkward at all. It felt like a natural extension of the hand on his shoulder. Like something they had been doing in other ways, before.

Presently, Ignis relaxed. He didn’t return the hug, exactly, but the relieved sigh against Gladio’s chest was all the acknowledgement he needed that what he did was the right thing.

For now, fuck "Obscurus," whoever he was.

Gladio had promised Ignis he was there for him.

Now was as good a time as any to start keeping his word.


End file.
